Page 54 of To the Moon and Back

“Lazy mornings. When there’s no rushing, no agenda, no alarm.”

Lauren rolled them onto their sides, which revealed a more perfectview of Lauren’s body. Still not quite used to this intimacy, and loving everysecond of it, Carly let her gaze linger on the perfectly shaped, full breasts.“You are so sexy and alluring. Worthy of a painting. You need to know that.”

Lauren pulled the sheet down farther, and Carly swore quietly.

“Do you know what else we agree on?” Lauren asked.

“What’s that?”

“Our devotion to taking advantage of the lazy mornings you justdescribed.” Lauren slid on top and cupped Carly firmly, intimately. And theywere off.

Lazy morning, indeed.

* * *

Lauren made coffee to the sound of the shower. With her blue silkrobe fastened loosely around her, she practically glided through the kitchen,pouring the grounds with flourish, adding the water to the rhythm of theimaginary song in her head, pressing start on the coffee maker, and gliding herway to Rocky’s bowl for his breakfast. She felt like a sexed-up Snow White,bonding with all the animals and objects around her. Rocky quirked his pudgylittle face at her as if to ask why she was so happy.

“Because I had an amazing night.” He quirked his head to the otherside, mystified. “It was so good, Rocky. I can’t tell you the details becauseyou’re an innocent. Just know it was memorable in the best way.” Her bodytingled at just the thought of touching Carly, her own body still sensitive tothe attention it had just been paid.

She deposited Rocky’s breakfast in front of him. While he went tochow town, Lauren checked her phone to find only a million messages with smileyfaces and congratulatory texts. There was also a series of links. Aha, thereviews. She took a deep breath, preparing herself, and clicked immediately onthe one for Broadway World, knowing it would be an important one.

“Not a Cloud in the Sky asStarryNightsShines Bright at The McAllister.” That headline soundedpromising. Lauren continued to read.

Audiencescan rest assured thatStarry Nights,the new play by Mariah White premiering at The McAllister, will make you longfor a telescope and a fated love of your own. Carly Daniel, taking her firstbow onstage, delivers a serviceable performance as Ashley, but it’s newcomerLauren Prescott’s Mandy that stole the spotlight. Prescott turns in aperformance rich in charm, tenderness, and wit.

Oh, wow. Lauren could hardly believe what she was reading. Sherevisited the portion about her performance over and over again. She wishedthey’d said more about Carly, though.Serviceablewas a polite way of sayingfinein the theater community, and Carly deserved much more than that.She skimmed the rest of the article in which the reviewer praised thedirection, the set, and the lighting design. Tacked on to the bottom of thepiece was a link that opened a secondary article separate from the reviewentitled “Spilled Tea and Starry Nights.” She skimmed the content with afurrowed brow.

Insiders atThe McAllister say that Carly Daniel, in line with past rumors, was difficultto work with behind the scenes of the new play, Starry Nights.Daniel, a source said, becameknown in Minneapolis for holding up rehearsals, making incredible demands ofcast and crew, and staging diva-worthy tantrums when she didn’t get her way. Somespeculate it was Daniel’s behavior behind Evelyn Tate’s departure from theproject early last month. Tate, when contacted, declined comment.

Lauren closed her eyes and set her phone on the counter. Thatwasn’t fair. Carly had been a pain to work with in the beginning, and yes,she’d been late. However, she’d never spoken a rude word to anyone and had putso much hard work into the show. To turn a spotlight away from that and shineit on lies and rumors just seemed out of bounds. Her chest ached.

“What were you reading?” Carly asked. Lauren turned to see Carlystanding across the room with wet hair, soft looking jeans, and a pale yellowT-shirt. “The reviews?”

Lauren nodded.

“I’m ready. Lay it on me.” Carly folded her arms and smiled. Yetit wasn’t her standard grin. There was a guarded, unsure quality, signalingthat she was nervous, vulnerable.

“They liked the show.” It wasn’t a lie.

“They did?” Carly let her hands drop. “That’s such a relief. Youhave no idea. What about us? I’m guessing if they liked the show then we faredokay, right?”

“Yes, they were complimentary.” She didn’t mention that thereviews seemed to favor her. It didn’t feel right to say so, and it felt evenweirder that they’d written it. Carly was amazing in the show and had come sucha long way in terms of her work ethic.

“You’re not saying much. Guess I better take a look.” She squintedat Lauren, headed back to the bedroom, and returned a moment later with herphone, already engrossed in what she found there. She raised her gaze to Lauren,beaming. “They love you. They absolutely do.”

Lauren smiled back. “It’s nice of them to say those things.”

“I’m so proud of you.” A pause. She held up her phone. “I don’tthink they liked me as much.” She shrugged but seemed a little smaller as shestood there. “That’s okay. I’m new at this theater thing, right?”

“They did like you. It’s just that my late casting probably madefor an interesting spin on the write-up.”

But Carly was continuing to click around on her phone now, andLauren watched as her supportive smile dimmed. Damn it. She’d run into thegossip reports.

“They think I started fights.” She raised her gaze to Lauren’s,dumbfounded. “But I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I like most everyone, and if I’ve beenspoiled and shallow in the past, I haven’t treated anyone poorly.”

“You haven’t. You were late and had a bit of a culture shock, butyou were never hard to work with.”

“Lauren,” she said, looking helpless. “I never threw fits.”

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